The rumored $99 up front Xbox 360 and $15 a month afterwards for two years is official. It includes a Kinect, Xbox Live Gold service, a two-year warranty.

To be clear, in order to get the $99 price you need to commit to a two-year subscription to Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft’s premium Xbox gaming service. And you can’t use renewal cards that will lower that rate, or tack it on to an existing subscription. Also, it’s a 4GB Xbox 360 – a model without a hard drive. You’ll need to upgrade its storage capability pretty quickly (Microsoft sells them as add-ons you can install yourself).

If you’ve held off getting an Xbox 360 until it was cheap enough, this may be the right time.

One could argue that it’s a good deal for those who are going to have Xbox Live anyway, but I disagree.

Say 2 months in, you decide that you no longer have time for gaming. You’re out of a ton of money because you’re locked into contract.

That Live subscription is likely costing Microsoft pennies. They’re laughing all the way to the bank about this. The console should be free, and even then I’d be very skeptical about biting on this “deal”.

If you’re considering it, please don’t do this. It makes no financial sense to be locked into a contract over an outdated gaming console.

http://twitter.com/xwordy Hobbesian

Outdated is a matter of perspective. There’s huge library of titles, plus streaming, plus arcade, plus Kinect. The machine is old, yes, but even if a new one dropped tomorrow, there would be plenty of material to carry your investment. But the two-year lock-in to Gold at that rate is bogus, and as noted, I’m not a fan of the 4GB model in general.

http://twitter.com/xwordy Hobbesian

Standard Xbox 4GB/Kinect bundle ($284) + 2 years of Gold at $48/year from Amazon: $380. Special offer ($99) + 24 months of Live Gold at $14.99/month: $458. I’m not a math whiz, but this doesn’t seem like a bargain. Plus, 4GB? Ew! 250GB or bust. Also, what happens after two years? Can you renew using the cheaper Amazon-peddled Gold gift cards?

Peter Cohen

You’re right – over the course of the contract you’ll spend more. But it’s the same basic value proposition that makes iPhone 4S’s so attractive to consumers for $199, so your mileage may vary.

http://www.aichon.com Brad

Yeah, I’ve been looking to finally purchase a 360 at some point soon, but this is one deal on which I won’t be pulling the trigger.

drkhrse

You can get a refurb 250gb xbox from Best Buy for $150 today. that’s a much better deal

http://crizzo.me Christopher

You can buy an Xbox HDD from Gamestop, the old Xbox 360s HDD then remove it from the plastic casing and it will work in the new Xbox’s. They are $20 for 20GB drives (refurbs or used). Most people will pay for XBL service anyway.

Even if you get a new Xbox your Gold subscription would transfer to the hardware once you logged in with your account.